Verizon Experience: A Lesson in Managing Your Relationship with Customers

I cut off my service with Verizon Wireless last week because of my constant dissatisfaction with the quality of service. My reception is always spotty, especially when I go into stores and in the subway. Even worse, my data reception would go on and off for hours, even days.

Then there’s the issue of my phone (Palm Treo) breaking down. I have had it upgraded when my first 2-year contract expired, replaced when it broke down, and had my data wiped clean several times when the phone started to malfunction.

The last straw was when my data service was lost during the Christmas week. When I called the technical support, they did a partial reset, which did not work. So they did a full reset which wiped my phone clean and all data lost. Still it did not work. They told me that they can give me a refurbished phone, but after a few minutes retracted the offer because I don’t qualify. They said my only alternative was to sign for another 2-year contract and have my phone replaced.

I decided to switch to AT&T; and get an iPhone.

A few days after I disconnected my service, a Verizon Wireless rep called me and asked me why I cut off my service with them. When I told them that my connection is always spotty, losing phone reception when I enter into stores or buildings, the rep told me why I did not dial *280 (or whatever the number) and called technical support to boost the coverage of my phone. My reaction was, “How would I know what number to dial? How would I even know that I have to call technical service to boost up my phone?”

Plus, this rep told me that they can give me a new phone with a 1-year contract, and not 2-years – an offer that both the technical and customer service reps never made to me when I called thme.

This whole experience from a big company offers several interesting lessons that any small business can learn from:

Promptly inform customers of initiatives you’ve made to help improve their overall experience with your products.

Do not assume that the customer knows about any changes that you have made to your products or service.

Find ways to communicate with your customers to let them know about the latest with your products or service, new ways to use your products, or even instructions on how to use your products.

Do not wait for the customer to leave you before you give them a better offer.